FC Liefering had an easy last matchday of the season with their match against SV Horn. The feeder club of the Austrian giants RB Salzburg lined up in a 4-4-2 with a quite narrow diamond on the midfield, trying to play a lot of short combinations in midfield. After the first half, the hosts led three goals to nill against Horn, which meant they could slow down in the second half. In the second half, both teams managed to score one more goal, ending the game with a 4-1 scoreline. With an average age of 18,4 years, FC Liefering performed pretty inconsistently, as you could expect. They showed some glimpses of class but also made a lot of weird mistakes.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Roko Simic
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Croatian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 10/08/2003
- Current club: FC Liefering (On loan from RB Salzburg)
- Career: NK Lokomotiva, RB Salzburg, FC Liefering (Loan)
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
With two goals Roko Simic was the bright light for FC Liefering against Horn. The 18-year-old Croatian has done very well in his first season in the 2. Liga with 19 goals in 24 matches and showed some great things against SV Horn. Simic has an impressive physical presence standing at around 6’3” according to the data, but he might be even slightly taller. The Croatian striker used his body well, keeping his opponents away, but could definitely benefit from some extra sessions in the gym as he is quite lean. Against the more physical opponents he had a hard time in duels and he lost his balance a bit too quickly.
Simic played as the left-sided striker in Liefering’s 4-3-1-2 partnered with Oumar Diakité who played quite far on the right a lot of the time. The 18-year-old showed that he does well holding up a ball so that the midfielders can move forward, but he also made some good diagonal runs in behind the defenders. He definitely isn’t very explosive but his top speed actually looked quite high as he was able to easily outrun his direct opponent multiple times.
With his long legs, Simic looks quite clumsy on first glance when you see him on the ball but that is actually not the case. Against Horn he looked comfortable dribbling and making progressive runs with the ball at his feet. He was composed in small spaces and was not afraid to take on an opponent. Simic did most things with his right foot but showed that he was not afraid to pass his opponent on the outside going to his left foot to cross. His first touches looked good and he showcased this with his second goal where he receives the ball with a few opponents around him, takes a perfect first touch allowing him to instantly pull the trigger and score.
Rating – A1
Roko Simic had a fanastic season in the second tier of Austrian football and should be definitely be considered for RB Salzburg’s first team. With better numbers for Liefering than players like Patson Daka and Karim Adeyemi it’s really up to himself how good he can be in the future.
Samson Baidoo
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Austrian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 31/03/2004
- Current club: FC Liefering
- Career: RB Salzburg (Y), FC Liefering
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
The 18-year-old Samson Baidoo played as the left-sided centre back in FC Liefering’s 4-4-2 and played a fine match. Baidoo didn’t really stand out in my eyes but also rarely made a mistake. Despite playing on the left side Baidoo is right-footed. He was comfortable using his left foot to control the ball but didn’t really use it when dribbling or passing the ball.
The Austrian U18’s international looks like a machine physically. He stands at 6’2” tall with an athletic build and looks like he is very strong. However, he didn’t really show it against SV Horn. He was pretty inconsistent in his defensive duels and this was mainly because he seemed to lack any sort of aggression when he tries to recover the ball from an opponent. He seems way too careful and could do a lot better defensively. Tactically he did fine in this match. He was looking around him well, covering the right ground and seemed to have a decent feeling for when he was able to step out of the defensive line and press a little higher up the pitch, which he did a few times this match. FC Liefering played a high defensive line mostly throughout this game which was completely fine for Samson Baidoo. If SV Horn played a good pass behind the defensive line Baidoo could easily outrun his opponent with his great pace.
On the ball Baidoo did a fine job. He looked calm and confident and barely made any mistakes on the ball this match. He kept most of his passes simple but displayed some good long balls as well. Baidoo dribbled forward out of the defensive line a few times which was then followed by a good forward pass.
Rating – A2
Samson Baidoo has a lot to be excited about. He has a great physique, good defensive positioning and looks confident on the ball. If Baidoo improves in his defensive duels he should be able to make the step to RB Salzburg and should have a bright future ahead of him.
Tolgahan Sahin
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Austrian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 10/10/2004
- Current club: FC Liefering
- Career: LASK (Y), RB Salzburg (Y), FC Liefering
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Preferred foot: Left
Tolgahan Sahin was one of the two 17-year-old on the pitch for FC Liefering, with Marcel Moswitzer being a few months younger than Sahin. He played as the left-sided midfielder in Liefering’s 4-4-2 and later in the game was moved to the middle as the most defensive of the four midfielders. As the left central midfielder, Sahin had plenty of freedom to play quite wide toward the left sometimes acting like a left-winger but he would often play quite defensive not going forward too much. Out of possession he tracked back very well and worked hard pressing. Sahin would often press up quite far forward but would always hurry back into position. Defensively he read the game very well, intercepting a lot of passes against Horn.
Standing at 5’9” Sahin isn’t the most impressive player, physically. He is obviously very vulnerably in the air but did quite decent in physical duels. He has good upper body strength and wasn’t getting bullied off the ball at all this match. The 17-year-old is pretty agile and has good acceleration with okay top speed. When he turned away from his opponent he easily created a good gap between him and the opponent.
On the ball, Tolgahan Sahin showed that he has good technique but also that he tries to avoid using his right foot as much as possible. His first touches were very good and he was easily able to turn away from his opponent. He would almost always turn towards his right though, taking a heavy touch with the inside of his left foot, which could make him pretty predictable. His dribbling looked alright, despite taking a few heavy touches after holding on to the ball a bit too long. Sahin’s passing was alright. He showed that he has a good passing range with some nice long-range passes, but he overdid it a few times by playing some very difficult options. There were also multiple moments where he seemed to lose his concentration slightly, making some sloppy mistakes he shouldn’t make.
Rating – B1
Right now the step to RB Salzburg is still too big for Tolgahan Sahin. He definitely has potential but needs to be more consistent on the pitch. Being only 17-years old though, this is very normal and he has plenty of time to improve.
Target Scouting 